1955 lowboy

[Hobert62]

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/hvo/d/1955-lowboy-good-working/6381221421.html

Not mine

[yarnall]

Looks like a good  deal. 

[Hobert62]

10 hours ago, yarnall said:

Looks like a good  deal. 

That's what I was thinking for $1500.  

[h67st]

He says he just had the lights and tires checked out too.

[JKuhl]

So I bought this thing.

I called the guy and talked with him, his father had bought it new and they used it occasionally. They supposedly had just gone over it making sure everything was good as the ad had said. Seemed like a real straight up guy, so I sent him a check and parked my truck at his yard on our way to NJ fpr thanksgiving. On the Monday after we met up and transferred the title, no problems. 

It was all down hill from there, hooked up and only a couple lights, no biggie its old and my wife will be following me anyway. OK, so now no brakes, well I'm empty and my truck has good brakes, is what it is.

So we take off, make it 12 with 250 to go and smoke, damn... you can see what I found in the second picture.

This was after finding a small shop that was open on the first day of deer, I carry tools, just not enough for tearing off a wheel. So chain up the axle and put some grease in the other wheels.

I made it to state college when another starts getting hot. We were 5 miles from the central parts facility of the company I work for, so I drop it off there and we head home.

I ran down the following Thursday and retrieved it with my pickup and gooseneck. I tore it apart and got lucky I guess, no real damage to the spindle and I only needed an inner set of bearings. I'm gonna convert it over to oil filled hubs and replace the hardware for the brakes, along with re wiring and re plumbing.

The trailer is in really decent shape with almost zero rust and is rated for 60K. It'll work perfect for the few times I want to move a piece of rented equipment from work to home.

I wish the owner had just told me the truth about the thing, I would have still bought it just would have hauled it in the first place.

 

 

[Hobert62]

Gotta love craigslist.   Like said for $1500 couldn't hardly go wrong.   

[Swishy]

JK

Gudday m8

RE:  gonna convert it over to oil filled hubs

If I were U I'd stik with grease

if a wheel seal leaks with grease U kno U gunna need to fix it in the next week or 2

With oil n the seal leaks U only get an hour or 2 B 4 Truble

there have been a lot of wheel fires on new trailers thru oil seals leaking

 

cya

 

§wishy

 

[41chevy]

Probably in all honesty had no idea on the bearings, most likely never went more than a few miles locally. As for the lights, no excuses for him no knowing.    Paul

[tjc transport]

22 minutes ago, 41chevy said:

Probably in all honesty had no idea on the bearings, most likely never went more than a few miles locally.

i was thinking the same thing

[gxbxc]

but I gota  ask how did you get it up on your goose neck trailer that way?

[JKuhl]

Yeah, it is what it is with the bearings.

It’s just that I asked and was assured multiple times. The guys owns a fleet, he knows the stuff, just be honest about what you know or don’t. 

I used a V225 Cat forklift to set it up there. Pulled It ok, despite being a pretty hilly section of 80.

[Vladislav]

I think that thing worth 1.5K anyway. Sorry to hear the issues you got transporting it. A couple of years back a friend of mine bought a truck and drove it home for nearly 2000km. Had the same issue with the hub bearings. Both sides on the front axle. Strange fact the first hub started getting stuck and braking the truck after 1000km of run. He was lucky just swapping the bearings which were foound there locally. The 2nd hub revision showed out no grease in it. And the same case with the seller. A honest person who owned the truck for 20 years. But never drove it further than 50 km off home.

[Vladislav]

And thank you for sharing experience.